It has been claimed that Apple is sugar-coating the situation with "transitional" job offers, where certain members will be carried forward in temporary positions for a few months before facing the axe.

"We're excited to have the Beats team join Apple, and we have extended job offers to every Beats employee," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr explained.

"Because of some overlap in our operations, some offers are for a limited period and we'll work hard during this time to find as many of these Beats employees as we can another permanent job within Apple."